The invention herein disclosed relates to a hinge for an enclosure for facilitating the servicing of devices having two or more parts and which are mounted in difficult to access locations. Specifically, the invention is a hinge apparatus for multi-part devices such as video surveillance camera enclosures.
There are devices which have two or more separable parts that are normally mounted in difficult to access areas and which require in situ servicing. The first step in servicing such devices is to remove the cover, usually by removing a set of cover screws that hold the cover to a body of the device. If the workman is on a ladder or platform high above the ground or working through an access hole or port, dropping of the screws and possibly the cover once it is detached is problematic. For example, conventional video surveillance units include a video camera that is placed within a protective enclosure. The protective enclosure is normally designed to prevent tampering with an enclosed camera unit.
Various types of protective enclosures have been designed for different installation configurations. In general, such configurations include mounting the unit on a vertical or horizontal planar surface such as a wall or ceiling, in a corner position at the intersection of two walls and a ceiling, or as a self-enclosed unit. Typically the protective enclosures can be disassembled into two separate components, namely, a cover, which is normally attached via tamper-proof screws, and the main body of the enclosure.
Access to the camera unit within the enclosure is accomplished by loosening and removing the tamper-proof screws and detaching and removing the cover from the main body of the enclosure. The protective enclosure is often designed so that it easily falls off as soon as the screws are removed. While this process is easily accomplished when the unit is being manufactured, difficulty arises when disassembling units that are in situ.
Video surveillance cameras are typically installed in places that are difficult to access, such as many feet off of the ground on the side of a building, or in the corner of the high lobby area of an office tower. Access to the units typically occurs during either installation or maintenance by a workman who is standing atop a long ladder with a screwdriver and screws in his hands. Frequently this poses a problem when the cover disengages, as the workman must hold onto the screw driver and the screws while he attempts to catch the cover as it disengages. Thus, a solution is required to alleviate this awkward and dangerous situation.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a solution to the aforementioned problem by providing an apparatus which facilitates the removal of a cover plate of a device having a cover plate and a body without complete detachment from the body of the cover plate so as to permit easy access to the components within the protective enclosure.
According to the invention there is provided a hinge apparatus for an enclosure having a body and a cover removably affixable to the body. The apparatus includes a hinge bracket affixed to the body and a cover bracket affixed to the cover. A hinge is attached at one end to the hinge bracket and at another end to the cover bracket. The hinge is moveable so as to expose and provide access to an interior of the body.
The hinge assembly permits easy removal of the cover without its complete disengagement from the body. The wire hinge, hinge bracket and cover bracket may be adapted in both size and shape to the various types and styles of enclosures such as, for example, protective enclosures manufactured for video surveillance cameras. The apparatus disclosed herein provides a simple, element and cost-effective solution to the problem of a protective enclosure that has a cover that completely detaches from its associated body.
The hinge may consist of a length of wire that conforms to the shape and size of the intention perimeter of the body so that the hinge does not interfere with the placement and closing of the cover onto the body, nor with any components within the body.
Preferably, the wire has sufficient tensile strength to form an open-ended spring having open ends bent back sharply on themselves wherein the open ends can be pressed together and inserted into the hinge bracket and constrained thereby to pivotal movement.
The wire may have a cover bracket insertion portion compressible so as to be insertable into the cover bracket.
The hinge bracket may be affixed to the body and further include a first hinge element and a second hinge element operative to receive ends of said hinge and to hold the ends in compression.
The cover bracket may be affixed to the cover and have an open side into which the third hinge element is slidably insertable. The third hinge element may be held in the cover bracket by compression, and thereby provide an attachment of the cover to the body.
In another aspect of the invention there is provided a protective enclosure for a video surveillance camera, having a body and a cover, comprising an interconnecting assembly interconnecting the body and the cover and permitting the cover to be removed and extended away from the body so as to expose an interior of the body.